“Ken,” something whispered his name out in a raspy voice. Ken turned around to see what it was but he saw nothing in his line of vision. He looked up, to his left, to his right, behind him, in front of him, and the thing that whispered his name was nowhere to be seen. “Ken.” His name was whispered once more, but this time a hand landed on his shoulder.

“Ken!” Ken’s name was yelled into his ear, causing him to jump. He jerked his shoulder out of the hand that was placed on him. He began running blindly forward, not knowing where he was going, or where he even was.

“Where am I?” He thought as he ran forward, running faster with every passing second. When he stopped to take a breath he looked at his surroundings, noticing how different and foreign they looked to him. The place was a dark purple, or maybe it was just the time of day that gave everything a purple shade. The land was barren, only mountains and rocks to be seen.

“Ken!” His name was yelled once more but after he jumped he fell out of bed. His eyes shot open and he looked at his dresser. He took a few calming breaths before he untangled himself from his bed sheets, and got dressed. When he walked out to the kitchen he noticed the phone was beeping, meaning someone had left a message.

“Ken, how’re you darling? Your brother should be back from school tomorrow; he called and told us he was leaving early. We won’t be back for another week but with Tanner there you won’t be alone at the very least! Remember, no parties while we’re gone, and stay out of trouble!” The message left by Ken’s mom ended with a beep from the phone.

Ken sighed and whispered, “Mom why would I have a party here?” He went to the kitchen and opened the fridge, grabbing the milk out. He proceeded to grab a bowl out from one of the cabinets, as well as a box of cereal. After eating his breakfast he decided to go outside and see what it was like outside. When he opened the door he was blasted by a strange amount of heat that made him close the door as soon as it was open. “Well that’s a no,” he said to himself before he walked into the living room and grabbed the television remote. He plopped down onto the couch and began flipping through various channels. After going through at least ten he stopped at the news which had a very odd broadcast at the moment.

“There is a meteor predicted to strike New York, New York in a week,” the news reported stated in an artificial calm voice before he said how everyone was evacuated from the city and neighboring places due to safety issues. After all that was said the reporter moved on to talking about people who recently went to jail.

“Boring,” Ken complained as he switched the TV off and just started to laze around. He laid around the couch for about five minutes before he started groaning out of boredom. He rolled off the couch and started crawling towards the TV. He opened one of the black cabinets that were on either side of the TV and looked inside to see if there was anything to watch of play.

“No. No. No. No. Ehhh? No.” Ken continued to go through all of the video games and movies that were in the left cabinet until he had gone through all of them. He groaned in frustration before he laid down on the floor, placing his hands underneath his head. “Is there nothing to do around here?” He asked himself rolling around on the floor before he picked himself up. “That’s it!”

He ran to his room and grabbed his cell phone. After dialing a number his phone rang three times before ending up short at a voice box. “Please leave a message after the tone. Beeeep.” He flung his phone at his bed in frustration before screaming in a deranged way.

“Nothing exciting is going to happen today!” Usually Ken loved being home alone, but today was a dull day. Nothing was planned to happen either. It was a lull in his summer vacation, and he hated it. He was waiting for Tanner to come home. Ken wanted to see his brother even if they always fought. The house phone rang and Ken went to go see who was calling the house. The caller ID said “Unknown” so he left it alone.

“Hello?” the voice that rang out of the answering machine was familiar, but Ken couldn’t quite figure out who it was. Ken could hear some hushed voices in the background noise before it was quiet again. “Is anyone there?” Ken thought about answering the phone before he decided against it, because he didn’t want to talk to someone he didn’t know, even if they sounded familiar.

“Al? Maria? Are either of you listening to this?” The voice asked for Ken’s parents which left Ken in confusion.

How could this person know my mom and dad? Ken thought as he waited for the message to continue.

“It doesn’t matter. They’ll get it eventually, just leave the message!” Ken heard a different, completely unfamiliar voice ring out of the answering machine. This voice sounded mean compared to the slightly polite, yet assertive voice that had started the call.

“Still your tongue Gunvor!” The first voice replied with an assertive tone before returning to the message. “When you get this message you need to be ready. Ken, Tanner, if either of you are hearing this please find a weapon and hide.” Ken felt his heart skip a beat as his name was mentioned. He wondered how this strange person who was calling knew his name. He reached for the phone, hesitating before he picked it up.

Ken grabbed the phone and answered with a timid, “hello?” Ken was uncertain about his decision to answer the phone because he didn’t know this guy, or people, but they knew him and his family. He waited a minute until the person on the other side of the call responded to him.

“Al?” The voice asked with confusion clear in he said asked. Ken sighed as the person mistook him for his dad like everyone else he talked to on the phone did.

“No. It’s Ken.” Ken’s heart raced as he awaited the person’s reply. A few seconds later he heard a crash through the phone and a bunch of yelling. Something had happened wherever the call was being held from and Ken was curious as to what it was.

“Ken, quickly listen to me. You need to find something to defend yourself with! And quick! Hide as well. Got it?” Ken nodded before he remembered he was talking on the phone. After panicking for a second he replied.

“Y- Yes. I got it.” His voice was oozing with confusion as he wondered what was happening. The phone cut off with a beep before Ken hung up the phone. “What was that about?” Ken mumbled to himself as he walked around his house looking for something he could use as a weapon. He eventually found a baseball bat that was in his room, hidden inside his closet. He hoped Tanner would get home soon so he wouldn’t be so alone and confused.

He went out to the living room and sat on the couch nonchalantly, turning on the TV so he had something to watch while he waited.